First Nighter: Ayckbourn's "Things We Do for Love" Done Lovingly in Westport

August 25, 2014 8:06 PM

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Generally, it's not a good idea for playwrights to direct their own work--or maybe anyone else's, for that matter. One of the few exceptions is Alan Ayckbourn, who almost always directs the first production of anything he writes.

That may be because, as he's said, he thinks of himself as a director first and a playwright second. This is a result of his spending more time on the directing than on the writing of his now 78 works. This, of course, says something eye-popping and jaw-dropping about how long he takes to turn out h...